How much X-rays is too much?

March 18, 2009, Editor MCR,

"I have back pain and have been asked to get an x-ray of my spine. I was wondering how will I know if I am being over-exposed to x-rays? What about MRIs? " – Casey Q

Hi Casey,


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Generally speaking, X-rays are relatively safe. However, if you feel that you have been taking a lot of scans lately and are worried about risks to things like cancer, here is a site (www.xrayrisk.com) that is a pretty good guide at estimating your risks to x-rays. It takes into consideration of your age and history of cumulative exposure. 

As to your second question, MRIs or Magnetic Resonance Imaging use magentic fields and radio waves to produce an image. They don’t use ionising radiation like x-rays or CT scans.

Generally, as a guide we prefer to use imaging to confirm a diagnosis, not find one. Meaning we have an idea or two about what’s behind the problem. Then we employ imaging to confirm or dis-confirm that hypothesis. We recently wrote about Diagnose First, Scan Second

 

Related posts:

  1. Diagnose First, Scan Second
  2. Ultrasound Therapy, Imaging and Shockwaves
  3. What not to do? The Question Less Asked.
  4. Understanding How Back and Neck Pains Are Diagnosed
  5. Should I get a massage immediately after a marathon?


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This work by Musculoskeletal Consumer Review is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Singapore License. This article was contributed by Core Concepts - Musculoskeletal Healthcare Group. In the spirit of promoting health education, you may copy, distribute and transmit the work under the conditions specified by the license. For articles re-printed with permission, copyright remains with the original copyright holder (author or publisher). MCR's Creative Commons License does not apply in such cases.


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